182 [Assembly 
hi nd Ji^d'^y: SECTION IV. 
Shales of the Superior Series. 
The pyritiferous rocks" of Mr. Eaton constitute in our district 
the highest of those grand terraces, which extend in an east and 
west direction across the State. This series occupies the southern 
portion of our district, and contains within its limits those parallel 
depressions, at right angles to the line of the terrace, which are 
filled with the waters of those fine lakes, Cayuga, Seneca and oth- 
ers. Similar depressions, no longer the beds of lakes, parallel with 
these and referrable to a common origin, are frequently seen in 
travelling over this magnificent country, delighting the eye and in- 
spiring the imagination with their gentle but exquisite outlines. In 
ascending this final escarpment", we discover rocks, which in con- 
sequence of their elevation and component materials, have modified 
the temperature and soil, and therefore exerted a powerful influ- 
ence on the agricultural interests and prosperity of the region. 
We step in a few moments from the sedimentary rocks of one ocean 
to those of another, which reveal to us the history of a new crea- 
tion of animal life, in imperishable annals, unfolding the grand 
truths of geology in the most simple and beautiful manner, for no 
disturbance has here given obscurity or ambiguity to the record. 
In the course of these important investigations, we ascertain the 
reason why no coal, so frequently sought for here, is associated 
with the strata; and the broad generalizations of science, which 
lead to such practical results, must be permitted awhile to claim 
our undivided attention. 
In one limited portion of this series, we find the first vestige of 
animal organization of a different form from the tribolites and cy- 
therina, in the class crustaceans, developed in the singular genus 
Eurypterus of Dr. De Kay, which forms a passage to the recent 
genus Limulusy or king crab of the Atlantic coast. The Eurypterus 
has hitherto been found only in a few layers of rock which occupy 
a position near the most elevated point of land in our district, and 
are high in the series of the "pyritiferous slate" of Mr. Eaton. 
This circumscribed range may possibly have resulted from the ha- 
bits of the animal, which is said to have lived in fresh water. No 
evidence, however, of the fresh water origin of the rock where this 
fossil impression occurs, has yet been obtained here, as it is desti- 
tute of shell and all other fossils, except indistinct vegetable re- 
mains, resembling small fucoids. In Scotland, the Eurypterus has 
